Stop Apologizing!
by RavensRequiem
Summary: It always started with Ezio leaving for some unknown amount of time and it always ended with Leonardo scrambling to spit out, “Mi dispiace!” as he tried his best to bind the Assassin's wounds. Ezio/Leonardo


**Stop Apologizing!**

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_Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, claim ownership over any and all characters mentioned herein, nor do I receive any financial reimbursement for writing. It's all for fun._

_Warning: Light slash - Ezio/Leonardo  
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It always started with him leaving.

"_Mi dispiace!_"

Never was it as simple as him leaving to fetch a handful of items from the market or spend the night drunk in the company of one of the city's courtesans. Sometimes, he would be gone for the span of half a day –either through the day or night– and then he would return in some sort of a state that was forever left to chance. In the events where he wasn't all that long on his errands, he usually returned with that rakish grin on his face and some sort of treasure in hand, completely inflated on his victory and infectious in his grand mood. In the off event, where the Fates had chosen to frown on his fortunes, he would return worse for wear and in a sour mood, upset that something hadn't gone as he'd planned it. All the same, it was nice when he left for such short periods of time because it was certain that he would return home safely.

"_Mi dispiace!_"

But, there were times when he left for days on end, almost disappeared. None of those times were as worrisome or trying as the two years that followed his first disappearance, yet they were more nerve-wracking in their own way. There was always the chance that he would return in good health and sometimes with a prize in hand. Those were exciting times because the prizes he brought back kept him around for at least a day, maybe two if the bounds of luck were truly strained. However, he usually returned tired and malnourished, beaten from God knew what and somehow older, wearier and far too cynical for comfort. In the worst events, he barely got inside, so wounded from an unknown amount of time spent fighting. His pristine robes would be dyed as red as his sash as he tried his best to make it appear as though his injuries were far less grievous than they really were.

"_Mi dispiace!_"

Still, no matter how long he left for or what state he returned in, it always started with him leaving and ended with…

"_Mi dispiace!_"

"Leonardo, would you _stop_ saying that?!"

Long-boned fingers paused in their careful aid and bright eyes peered up from behind a curtain of sandy brown hair, all long enough for Leonardo to murmur, "_Scusa_, Ezio…" before returning to work.

Exasperated at that point, Ezio placed a larger, weapons-worn hand over one of Leonardo's and squeezed hard enough to get the painter to stop all together. "Why, in the name of God, do you keep apologizing? Had you caused these wounds, I could see your need to apologize. But, since you are merely trying to save me yet another visit to the doctor, I hardly see the call."

Leonardo motioned across Ezio's naked torso, decorated in gashes and bruises, as if the scape of injuries spoke tomes. "You flinch and I know I cause you pain, so I apologize. Is that so irritating to you, _amore_?"

"_Si_! It's excruciating," Ezio shot back. In that moment, he saw the hurt in Leonardo's eyes and swore he would have banged his head against the wall if it didn't already throb from being beaten with the broad side of a sword. "Leo, _per favore_, you know what I meant."

"Do I now?" Leonardo asked with an icy sort of indifference that hurt worse than any three of Ezio's injuries.

Ezio sighed wearily as Leonardo started back on the tedious task of cleaning and dressing his wounds. He didn't mean to insult the painter or wound his pride, but he was just so tired of hearing Leonardo apologize for something he had no part in. God knew he loved the man beyond reason for helping him and putting his life at stake, but he seriously wanted to beat him when he started apologizing. "Listen… Ow!"

"_Mi dispiace…_"

Leonardo growled and grumbled under his breath at the reflexive apology, his head ducked as he worked a little faster and with more force than necessary. Where Ezio found it ridiculous to apologize for causing pain, it made perfect sense to him! Wasn't the Assassin in enough pain without another causing him more, accident or no? The painter believed that it would have been callous not to apologize for adding to the misery and found his feathers were beyond ruffled for Ezio's admitted irritation.

"Leo-"

"_Silenzio_, Ezio, _per favore_," Leonardo interjected in clipped tones. One wouldn't think it by looking at him, but Leonardo could be vindictive and cold when he wanted to be, especially when he felt his honor had taken a beating. "I would hate to worsen your wounds."

Before Ezio even thought to argue, a good, hard press of Leonardo's fingers into a large gash on his shoulder made him think twice. He merely sighed and fell into uncomfortable silence, unable to say anything without invoking the painter's wrath. Thus he thought and did so deeply, flinching reflexively when his injuries flared in protest to their treatment and silently dreading the arrow Leonardo had yet to pull from his leg. He thought hard on why he didn't like Leonardo apologizing and worked of making a solid argument, a challenge given the man's strength of wit. It wasn't easy to do, since Ezio's forte lie in wars of wills and physical strength, but he felt he had a good case to present by the time Leonardo finished bandaging the last of his minor injuries.

"Do you want-"

"_Scusa_, Leo." It was Ezio's turn to interrupt and he felt a little bolder now that Leonardo didn't have anything to torture him with. "Will you just hear me out, _mio amore_?" When Leonardo just leered at him in a way mildly reminiscent of an angered kitten, Ezio tried again and failed just as miserably. "Fine, then destroy something important whilst you pull the arrow from my leg."

"I have half a mind to let you pull it out yourself," Leonardo announced brazenly.

Ezio sighed and slumped, so tired of fighting that he really didn't have the energy to go toe-to-toe with his wily painter. "I don't like you apologizing-"

"As much I've gathered."

"-because you do nothing but help me. That, and…" Ezio sighed and swept a bandaged hand through his hair, fingers grazing a wound at the temple that threatened to tear if he touched it again. "My wounds do hurt something fierce, but I do not want you to be sorry for caring for me. If anything, I should be the one sitting here apologizing."

Leonardo lifted a brow and seemed mildly more interested in listening, maybe even talking. "How do you figure, Ezio?"

"I've interrupted your life," Ezio gave a self-depreciating laugh, "I've put you in danger more times than is necessary, and I continue to interrupt your life and success with my own problems. It's not fair to you that you've become my weaponsmith, the roof over my head, and my doctor. You have no need to apologize to me for causing a little extra pain."

Finally, that icy look of vengeance –which never stayed about for very long– broke on Leonardo's face and he smiled softly as he placed a hand against Ezio's bruised and tanned cheek. "You punish yourself too much, _mio assassino_. I don't care what you think, I wouldn't trade this life for anything. You've inspired creations that I never would have dreamed of and given me marvelous pieces of history that I would have otherwise been ignorant too. Yours is a rich and exciting lineage that I'm really rather pleased to be a part of."

Ah, and there was Leonardo's typical enthusiasm; Ezio smiled fondly and reflected for a moment how much like a little boy Leonardo could be sometimes. "I didn't mean to offend you. I just… I'm tired."

Leonardo nodded his understanding and disinfected his hands with a nearby flask nearly empty after the night's call for first aid. "Would you like there rest to numb your senses, _mio amore_?"

Ezio shook his head vehemently. "Nothing will get me to drink to dull my senses, Leo. Just… be swift." He braced and waited for the pain to come, muscles coiling when he heard Leonardo snap the shaft of the arrow. But, when nothing happened, he opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed and found Leonardo grinning like mad with the other half of the shaft held aloft in his hand. "_Cosa_…?"

"I've been visiting with a physician, practicing some essential skills," Leonardo stated, quite proud of himself. "Herbs that numb the skin, ways to remove foreign objects from the body… it's been quite enlightening."

Ezio laughed breathlessly and pulled Leonardo into a tight, possessive hug, laying a kiss on the painter's head. "_Grazie, mio amore, grazie_. I believe I would be lost without your help."

Leonardo smiled brightly and replied, "And I would be a very bored man, a fate worse than death, if you could imagine." His smile brightened further when Ezio laughed at him and he was pleased to hear a lighter, more familiar tone in the Assassin's voice, something closer to the young man he had first fallen in love with. He wrapped his arms around Ezio and contented himself in a stolen moment of time where all was right in the world.

It always started with Ezio leaving for some unknown amount of time.

"Um… ow… Leo… your hugging that gash in my side…"

And it always ended with Leonardo scrambling to spit out, "_Mi dispiace!_"


End file.
